


A Hopeless Place

by Darkslicer



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eventual Smut, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Inspired by a Trailer, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, New Planets, Slow Burn, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Trailer, Teasers & Trailers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkslicer/pseuds/Darkslicer
Summary: Rey is on a mission when Kylo Ren comes for her and everything changes.---This was supposed to be a quick raid. If there was one thing Rey of Jakku knew, it was that deserts were treacherous.Kylo Ren had just broken atmo and was coming in fast. The engines of his tie silencer screamed in the distance. She watched his ship take shape on the horizon, traveling almost top speed straight at her.Rey’s hopes were dashed ... they were both woken by a nightmare.





	A Hopeless Place

BEEP.BEEP.BEEP. …  
BEEP. BEEP. …  
WRRRK. ...  
BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.BEEP. … 

BEEP.BEEP.BEEP. …  
BEEP. BEEP. …  
WRRRK. ...  
BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.BEEP. … 

Rey squeezed her eyes shut as her temples throbbed in time with the total irradiance monitor. The little exploration droid, SF-3957 (or Scuttle as she preferred to address him), was flying outside the cave where she had taken shelter three galactic standard days ago. She sat cross-legged at the mouth of the cave trying to curb her frustration through meditation. It wasn’t working very well. Every day lost meant more of her friend’s lives ended on the front lines. 

This was _supposed_ to be a quick raid: infiltrate First Order airspace, land on the planet Wahram, cross the desert to the Ruined Citadel, grab the Artifact, and get back to the Resistance. The Artifact called to her; it sang to her across the galaxy, telling her it would help destroy the Emperor once and for all. General Organa believed getting on and off Wahram without First Order detection would be the hardest part. Rey had managed that part of the mission with ease. However, crossing Iomaire Lom was proving to be the real challenge. If there was one thing Rey of Jakku knew, it was that deserts were treacherous. 

Three days ago, Rey stashed her ship amongst the rocks north of the shifting sands and set off for the Ruined Citadel on foot. She was only a few hours into her journey when a storm erupted on the local sun and she had to seek shelter from the brutal solar flares and their radiation in this cave. If Scuttle’s beeps were any indication, she would be spending at least one more day holed up before the radiation dropped to a safe level. Not that days mattered much here; Wahram was tidally locked in a stable orbit with the local star. The sun literally never set on Iomaire Lom. The desert stretched over half the planet, always facing the sun. The other half of the planet was just as inhospitable - a gigantic ocean wrapped in eternal night and covered in rapidly moving glaciers. The mountains of ice were constantly melting on the shores of the desert, only to refreeze in the depths of the ocean and get shoved up through the icy crust once again.

It didn’t help that with so few living creatures on the planet, her connection to the Force felt brittle and tenuous. Rey tried to immerse herself in the current of energy produced by all living things, to let it surround and flow through her. When she stayed with Poe’s Black Squadron on Durkteel after the Battle of Crait, the Force vibrated around her. Meditating was like looking at a beautiful tapestry. Each life was a thread with its own color, and they were all wound together before her. She could see the will of the Force written in those lives and let herself become one with it, an instrument for its use. But here on this hellhole of a planet, the tapestry was dull and threadbare. Though she tried, she could not make out the picture. With a deep sigh, Rey stood and stretched her aching body.

“Come on Scuttle, let's go inside,” she called to her droid as she turned to walk deeper into the cave. The cave twisted through the shifting sands making dozens of alcoves. Rey’s belongings were stashed in the darkest corner she could find to help give the illusion of night. With one last scowl over her shoulder at the brightness outside, Rey laid down on her bedroll, threw an arm over her eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. …  
BEEP. WRRRK. …  
BEEP. BEEP. WRRRK. …  
BEEP. ...

Scuttle’s rapid binary dragged Rey from a deep dreamless sleep. The little droid sounded gleeful as he chirped out the sequence that meant it was finally safe to leave their shelter. Rey sat up. A coating of sand fell from her face and chest down onto her lap. She shook off her hands and rubbed her eyes as a yawn caused her jaw to crack. At least that was one good thing she could say about Wahram. She slept uninterrupted here. For two years now, everywhere else she went in the galaxy, she couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two before she would wake in a cold sweat with her heart pounding. She could never remember the nightmares well enough to understand them, just a broken stream of images of death and destruction and war. But each nightmare felt like a warning from the Force. The dreams belonged to Kylo Ren, and their force bond meant she shared his torment. Rey wondered if the weakened state of the Force on this desolate tundra weakened the force bond too, perhaps effectively blocking the nightmares. After so many days of meditation and sleep waiting out the storm, the ever-present bags under her eyes may have finally receded. 

Standing, she ignited her lightsaber. There was just enough room in the caves to practice her saber forms. They became her morning routine when the nightmares started, and they were familiar to her body now. They stretched her muscles and cleared her mind. When she finished, Rey changed into a fresh white tunic, re-wrapped her arms, and packed her bedroll and belongings. She clipped her saber to the belt on her waist and nestled Scuttle into his home at the top of her pack. He would measure their radiation exposure and alert her if she needed to set up a temporary solar shield.

She wrapped her face in a scarf and pulled her goggles down, stepping back out onto the tundra. She could feel the artifact calling to her across the sands, but she checked her navisystem to verify her heading nonetheless. If there was another thing Rey of Jakku knew about deserts, it was that they were deceptive. It was always better to double-check things like directions and rations than to face the death that awaited anyone who made a mistake. She shifted her pack on her shoulders and started walking out toward the Ruined Citadel. 

* * * 

Rey trekked through dunes and soft flats for hours. The sun remained stubbornly above her in the sky despite almost a day of progress. She had already drained her water canteen and was relying on what her portable vaporator could pull from the air. She took another mouthful of water, swishing it over her gums before swallowing. She looked around at her surroundings and then down at her navisystem. She was just gazing back up at the sandy horizon when she felt it.

It was like a sonic boom and she stumbled back a pace as she processed it. Kylo Ren had just broken atmo and was coming in fast. Having another person nearby, especially one so strong, finally allowed her to feel the Force fully alive around her again. It was a gentle caress in the face of his rage. She knew he was coming for her. She dropped her pack, pulled her scarf and goggles from her face, and jogged further out onto the sandy plain to meet him. She was in turmoil, breath coming fast and hard. She slowed to a stop, staring in the direction of his approach. She could feel him coming closer, and as he did, she felt more and more his violent emotions. She felt the sting of rejection, the familiar ache of longing, the bottomless void of his grief, anger, bitterness, regret. All of it. It was overwhelming. 

She forced herself to take a few deep slow breaths. The engines of his tie silencer screamed in the distance. She watched his ship take shape on the horizon, traveling almost top speed straight at her. Her heart slowed down, and she found herself disappointed. She knew they would eventually have to face one another after the events above Crait, but she had hoped it would be in hand to hand combat. She never imagined he would try to run her over with his ship. Kylo Ren was many things, but she never would have thought him a coward. She pulled her lightsaber from her belt. She intended to deflect his blaster bolts and cut his ship to ribbons when he flew over. She ignited the legacy Skywalker blade that she rebuilt, it’s comforting hum pulsing through her. When she reached for the Force, she was surprised to find more subtle emotions pulsing from him than the anger she initially felt - fear, hope, grim determination, and something else. It was something softer and hotter. Something completely new to Rey. She didn’t know what to call it. But she knew what she had to do. 

She felt that he wouldn’t shoot her, so she turned around. She felt him push forward on the twin yokes, speeding up - he must have seen her. She looked over her shoulder to verify his trajectory. Satisfied, she took off running in the same direction. She sprinted, arms and lungs pumping. She needed to get her speed as close as possible to that of his ship if this was going to work. She focused on the Force, on the flow of air molecules around her body and her legs. She pushed the air, using her will to propel herself faster than would be humanly possible. She felt the matching flow of molecules around the silencer as it gained on her and she knew when the moment was right. She leaped, throwing herself up and back. She used the Force to increase the power of her jump, to jump higher and ensure her aim. 

As she flipped over the cockpit she finally laid eyes on Kylo Ren. He was staring at her, his mouth agape. She landed on the roof of the silencer. Her feet made contact first and as they slid backward over the hull she landed her saber, plunging it through the roof. The plasma beam cut through metal and electronics only inches behind Kylo’s head. She felt her hilt dig into the plates behind the transparisteel viewport, locking her in place, and she felt his awe melt into rage. He twisted violently on the controls, and she barely managed to hold on. After a few seconds, she got a solid grip on the handle of the door latch with her free hand and pulled the saber free to dig it in again, this time aiming for hydraulic lines. They battled one another, hurtling through the air. Kylo made the ship buck and flip, speeding up, slowing down, and turning in a vain attempt to dislodge the Jedi as she held fast, cutting and dismantling the ship. When she finally cut through an essential control line, the ship listed and spun. Rey managed to jump free of the crash, using the Force to control her fall. As she rolled to a stop in the sand, she looked up to see Kylo eject from the cockpit and roll to a stop in the sand a few hundred meters away. 

They were both instantly on their feet, charging toward one another with sabers alight. They clashed, fighting back and forth across the sand. Their powers in the Force were evenly matched. Their fighting styles were subtly different but complementary. With the force bond roaring between them, it was hard for either one to gain; they alternated parries and strikes. He gave ground first, but when she thought she had the upper hand, he spun faster than she anticipated and swung at her side as he slid by. She barely managed to get her saber up to guard her ribs, finally yielding ground. 

Zoom. Zoom. Zap. 

He pressed the advantage of his size as she struggled to regain her footing. She found a moment to kick the side of his leading knee. He stumbled, and she swung for his exposed neck. He managed to dodge to the side. 

“You destroyed my ship!” he shouted, incredulous, as he scrambled to his feet.

Rey’s mouth fell open as she met his saber with her own. 

Zoom. Zoom. 

She had no idea how to respond. What did he expect would happen if he tried to run her down?

“What are you doing here, Supreme Leader Ren?” she hissed back instead. “Is that still your title now that you’re an emperor’s lap dog once again?”

He clenched his teeth, a quiver running across his plush mouth. 

Zoom. Fein, dodge. Zoom.

“You’ve been out of communication, haven’t you?” he responded, his tone steeped in bitterness.

Rey scrunched her brows as she blocked a series of overhead blows he delivered in quick succession.

“What?” she could only ask. 

Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. 

He was striking in wide swaths as he marched her backward across the plain. She swiped side to side to block each hit. 

She managed to lock their blades together and push their hissing intersection back toward his face. Now he was the one stepping backward as she pressed forward, their blades creeping closer to his neck with each step. 

His eyes searched out her own through the crackling heat of the blades, a question blooming in their molten depths. Suddenly he took two large steps back, out of range of her blade. He extinguished his saber, dropped to his knees, and threw the hilt into the sand nearby. Rey charged forward, blade aimed at his heart. She stopped when there were only centimeters to spare. 

“What are you doing?” she grunted through clenched teeth.

“You still want to kill me, Rey. Do it,” he choked out through heavy breaths. “I can’t kill you. I wouldn’t, even if I could.”

Rey’s hazel eyes went wide with disbelief. Her saber still humming a hair's breadth from his big body. 

“You tried to run me over with your ship!” she cried out, indignant.

“I did not! I was just trying to get to you. When you turned to run, I sped up. I was going to sweep over you so the roost would slow you down long enough for me to get out.” He looked over at the wreckage that was his ship. Sand was already building around it. It would be just another dune in a few hours. 

Rey took a step back, extinguishing her blade. “What was your master plan then? Surely you realized you couldn’t park your ship anywhere on Iomaire Lom. What did you think was going to happen? And why were you trying to get to me?”

“Rey, I haven’t slept in days. My plan was ‘Get to Rey’,” he explained as he struggled back up to his feet. “I hadn’t considered much beyond that. When you flipped onto my ship, I thought for a second …” he tapered off. His brow creased. “Did you know that I designed that ship? It was one of a kind,” he growled. 

“Well, you tried to come for me to what? Take me prisoner? Now it looks like you’re _my_ prisoner,” she said, glaring up at him and tapping his chest with the hilt of her saber. 

He bent down to scoop up his saber hilt and clip it to his waist. “I’m your guest. I’m not with the First Order anymore, and your General has granted me clemency.” Another breath. “So I’m not really a prisoner.”

Her jaw dropped. “WHAT?”

“You heard me. I’m guessing you’ve been out of communication for several days or else I’m sure someone would have commed you with the news.”

“There was a solar storm. There was radiation interference for about four days. There was just static when I set off after the storm, and I haven’t stopped to ping for a signal since,” she mumbled to herself, and she sank down onto a chunk of metal from the ruined starship. She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised in question.

He sighed deeply and looked out across the desert like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “There was a battle a few days ago. When it ended, FN-21 …. ah, Finn gave a speech. It sparked a revolution amongst about half the storm troopers.” He looked back at her, meeting her eyes with determination. “I saw my chance. I took charge of the defecting troopers and led the revolt. My presence brought most of the rest of the troopers with us. The remaining forces took heavy casualties. Hux tried to stop me,” his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, “and I killed him.” He rubbed at his arm absently as he spoke.

“Is the First Order finished?” 

“No. Emperor Palpatine has grown much stronger in the past few decades. They still have all their ships and weaponry. The contingent of troopers who remained loyal is enough for Palpatine to destroy the galaxy. We don’t have much time.”

Rey stared down at her boots. “So you’re on our side now?”

“I’ve always been on your side, Rey.”

She jerked her head back up to glare at him, but he kept going before she could say anything further, “Technically the conditions of my clemency are contingent on my surviving the war and fighting with the Resistance. General Leia … my mother,” he squirmed a bit referring to her that way, “...did agree to push for a more centralized government when it’s all said and done though, if we win.”

“That must have been a hard-fought concession from her. She’s always been a hardline Populist.”

“It was. But I think she sees that too little centralized power leaves the government weak and ineffective. To be allowed to leave the Resistance base alone to come here for you I had to agree to stay out of the formation of the new government when we get to that point. That was one of my concessions,” he quietly confessed. 

“Why?”

“I know you’re headed for the Ruined Citadel. You’ve shared my dreams. You know what’s coming. I want to help you. You don’t have to do this alone.”

There was more there that he wasn’t saying; she could feel it. “How can I trust that you’re not going to try to take the Artifact for yourself - to unseat Palpatine and become the Emperor yourself, or…”

“We’re bound. I’ve never lied to you. Search your feelings; you know the truth,” he cut her off. His eyes bored into hers with the intensity that in all the galaxy only Kylo Ren possessed.

She could feel his earnestness. She nodded slightly and looked away.

“I haven’t rested since the start of the battle. I am barely on my feet. Can we rest for a bit? I’ll tell you anything, everything you want after. Just … can we sleep first?” he asked gently. 

Rey stared at him for another long moment and then set off in the direction where she had ditched her pack. He trailed behind her, shoulders hunched. 

Rey set up her solar shield. It was only intended for one person so it would be a tight squeeze for them both, but she was also tired after a day spent pacing in the sun and the effort she exerted in fighting her bond mate. Her mind raced through the new information as her practiced hands assembled their shelter. The sun was still bright through the fabric but at least they would be shielded from sand and radiation for a while.

Kylo climbed in first and tried his best to mold himself against one side of the fabric. Rey climbed in after, zipping the door behind her. It took some maneuvering but eventually they both got comfortable. Kylo lay on his side, his back pressed against the edge of the shelter. Rey’s head rested on his outstretched arm, her back pressed into his stomach. Both their legs were bent, the shelter too small for either one of them to stretch out. Scuttle sat atop Rey’s pack, nestled in her arms.

“Good night, Kylo,” she whispered as she closed her eyes. 

“Call me Ben. … Please,” he whispered back. 

She looked over her shoulder at him in surprise, but he was already asleep. She found his arm resting on top of his hip, laced her fingers through his, and pulled his hand to her chest. She hoped there would be no nightmares as she drifted off in the embrace of her sworn enemy and closest confidant.

* * * 

Rey’s hopes were dashed. The Force did not disturb their slumber, but they were both woken by a nightmare.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but no matter how much I tried to keep it trim, it ended up running long. I decided today to do it in 4 chapters and go ahead and post the first chapter. I'll try to update once every 3-4 days. I've already got most of chapter 2 written. I'll update tags if necessary as I go along.
> 
> I'm working on a different story in-universe but canon-divergent and have been struggling with the pace. While I was at Celebration, I decided to re-work it and that meant cutting one of my favorite parts. Then the trailer hit, and I thought up this story almost entirely so I could still use that part (apparently I don't know how to let go). I don't have a beta right now, so I'm doing my best to clean up my own craziness. If you see anything egregiously wrong, please let me know. 
> 
> Wahram is a planet I made up. Its name is sort of a tribute to Iram of the Pillars. In my head, it’s located in the G8 sector of the Unknown Regions of the galaxy.
> 
> Iomaire Lom is a mash-up of Irish words that sounded star-wars-esque to my ears. Iomaire means blank and lom means a barren place.
> 
> At the beginning of the story, Scuttle is doing my Star-Wars-droid-binary interpretation of the word HIGH in morse code for high levels of radiation. Later when he wakes Rey up in the cave, he’s saying SAFE.
> 
> Roost is a dirt-biking term. It means the sand/dirt that gets sprayed up in the wake of the vehicle in front of you. It seemed appropriate for the sand cloud tailing the silencer. Also seemed like a word the son of Han Solo would use / something he would try.


End file.
